Pan for gold

“Just yesterday, I took my 7 year old daughter out with me to teach her how to pan for gold. In the past, I have usually brought home dirt and panned it out in the back yard for fun but never at a stream with running water. We don't have a lot of running water here in AZ but in the winter months, the snow on the high peaks melts just enough to give us some flow down in the valley. [...] It's in one of these crevices that I panned my first pay dirt of the day. [...] So, lo and behold, the second pan of the day turned up some color. I was a bit skeptical due to the fact that there is lots of pyrite and mica flakes in the pay dirt. So, I sucked it up into the snifter and took it home. Once I got it under the lights I saw something that put a big ol smile on my face.”

“My Mom and Dad used to take me gold panning when we lived in northern Calif. We used to go to an old town called Bagby on the Merced river. It was just a fun outing for us. We used to find a few flakes now and then. If you start panning, you'd better have good knees and legs. Get yourself some water proof boots and maybe a short legged stool to keep your butt out of the water and stretch your legs for a while. Panning can be hard on one's back and legs.”